CHAPTER 16
Send
the tribute lambs
to the ruler
of the land,
from Sela
in the desert
to
the mount
of the Daughter
of Zion.
Like fluttering birds
pushed
out of the nest,
so are
the daughters
of Moab
at the fords
of the Arnon:
“Give
us counsel,
render
a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade
as dark as night.
Hide
the refugees;
do not
betray
the one who flees.
Let my fugitives
stay with you;
be
a refuge
for Moab
from
the destroyer.”
When
the oppressor
has gone,
destruction
has ceased,
and the oppressors
have vanished
from the land,
in loving devotion
a throne
will be established
in the tent
of David.
A judge
seeking
justice
and prompt
in righteousness
will sit
on it
in faithfulness.
We have heard
of Moab’s
pride,
his exceeding
pride
and conceit,
his overflowing
arrogance.
But his boasting
is empty.
Therefore
let Moab
wail;
let them wail
together
for Moab.
Mourn
for the raisin cakes
of Kir-hareseth,
you who are utterly
stricken.
For
the fields
of Heshbon
have withered,
along with the grapevines
of Sibmah.
The rulers
of the nations
have trampled
its choicest vines
that reached
as
far as Jazer
and spread
toward the desert.
Their shoots
spread out
and reached
the sea.
So
I weep
with Jazer
for the vines
of Sibmah;
I drench
Heshbon
and Elealeh
with my tears.
Triumphant shouts
have fallen silent
over
your summer fruit
and your harvest.
Joy
and gladness
are removed
from
the orchard;
no one
sings
or shouts
in the vineyards.
No
one tramples
the grapes
in the winepresses;
I have put an end
to the cheering.
When
Moab
appears
on
the high place,
when
he wearies himself
and enters
his sanctuary
to pray,
it will do him no
good.
And now
the LORD
says,
“In three
years,
as a hired worker
counts the years,
Moab’s
splendor
will become an object of contempt,
with all
her many
people.
And those who are left
will be few
and feeble.”